Same Sex Adoption

We have all heard the mantra that a child needs to be raised by both a mother and a father. The qualities contributed by a man and a woman are each vital to raising a well rounded individual and therefore the idea of having two mothers or two fathers is simply unacceptable right? Well what about no parents? No mother? No father? That child is bound to be well rounded. So now the real question emerges: Is parental guidance by two parents of the same sex really more harmful to a child's development than no parental guidance at all? In some minds the answer "NO´ flashes in bright, blinking lights however, there are many, including the majority of Americans, who disagree. Laws banning adoption by gay and lesbian couples exist in multiple states across the country. These bans do more than prohibit same-sex couples from starting families; they sentence children to a lifetime alone in world where plenty of eligible adoptive parents exist.

  The legal status of gay adoption varies across the country. Few are still outright banning it yet there are also few that fully accept it. Most states are ambiguous to the matter. Currently causing the most controversy over the issue is Florida- the only state that bans gay adoption of any kind, not just by couples. In affirming the law allowing this ban a federal court in Florida claimed that "three HIV-infected children being raised by a gay man (who had been named foster father of the year) were better off in a home with two married, heterosexual parents,´(Sanchez 2). The American Civil Liberties Union or ACLU is fighting passionately to get this ban repealed.
Other states with laws forbidding gay adoption include Utah which prohibits adoption by’s person who is cohabiting in a relationship that is not a legally valid and binding marriage,"(Sanchez 3). In Arkansas a law was approved to ban anyone co-habituating outside of a valid marriage from being foster parents or adopting children. Although the law could apply to... [continues]

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